


On The House

by dementorsatemysoup



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, And Totally In Love With Merlin, Clumsiness, Fluff, Gwaine Needs New Friends, Gwaine's A Walking Disaster, Humor, Love at First Sight, M/M, Nic Is To Blame, no magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-26
Updated: 2016-09-26
Packaged: 2018-08-17 10:08:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8140123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dementorsatemysoup/pseuds/dementorsatemysoup
Summary: The first time Gwaine sees Merlin, he walks straight into a wall....It escalates from there.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [【授權翻譯】On the House](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8324581) by [chicrenee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chicrenee/pseuds/chicrenee)



> This was born from a series of late night (or mid-day for her) talks between my friend Nic and I. Then a twenty minute writing session followed earlier today (or late last night). I'm not even sure what to call this other than pure fluffy madness. Thanks for reading :)

The first time Gwaine sees _him_ _,_  he walks straight into a wall. Percy snorts behind him and says, “Smooth, mate.”

“You alright?” Lancelot asks worriedly from behind the counter, not quite masking the amusement in his eyes.

“Fine,” Gwaine murmurs distractedly, his eyes darting to the window, but disappointment settles in his stomach. _He_  already walked away. “Just fine.”

* * *

The seconds time _,_   _he_ actually walks into the diner and Gwaine immediately fumbles with the tray in his hand, dropping dirty plates and glasses onto the floor.

“What the hell?” Percy stands over him, hands on his hips, not even fighting the grin spreading across his face. “You’re losing your touch, Gwaine.”

“Shut up,” Gwaine grumbles, shoving himself to his feet, heading towards the back for the broom, ignoring the stares that follow him. When he comes back, _he’s_  no longer in the diner and Gwaine curses himself for his sudden clumsiness.

* * *

The third time, Gwaine is working the register. He looks up from counting change and nearly drops the coins when he sees a pair of blue eyes staring at him.

“Uh, hi,” he croaks tossing the coins back into the register, putting most of them in the wrong slot. He closes the drawer, hissing when he smashes his fingers.

“You okay?” _He_  reaches out, an uncertain look on his face, before dropping his hand.

“Uh, yeah, yes I am fine,” Gwaine answers, flexing his injured hand. “What can I do with you? I mean, what can I do for you?” He must really be losing his touch.

_He_  ignores Gwaine’s slip up and says, “Can I get some coffee to go please?”

“Absolutely.” Gwaine turns, grabbing the coffee pot, and pours a generous amount into a to go cup. He caps it, turning back to _him_  and says, “Anything else? Cream? Sugar?” _Me,_  Gwaine adds internally.

“No thanks.” _He_ reaches into his pockets for some money, but Gwaine waves his hand.

“On the house.”

“No, I can’t…”

“I insist.”

_He_  looks like he wants to argue, but he sighs and nods. “Thank you.”

Gwaine smiles. “Anytime. I’m Gwaine, by the way.”

“Merlin.”

He walks out and Gwaine watches him go, not even bothered by the fact that the coffee is going to come out of his paycheck. He has a name to a face now.

* * *

The fourth time, Gwaine nearly knocks an elderly woman over, his quick reflexes the only thing keeping her from falling to the floor. When he lets her go, she grumbles something about disrespectful youths, but he ignores her, quickly heading towards the register.

He hip checks Percival out of the way, pushing him back towards the kitchen when he makes kissy faces at him, and turns just as Merlin walks into the diner.

“Hi,” Merlin greets, stopping at the counter.

“Hey,” Gwaine replies brightly. “Another coffee?”

“Yeah, and maybe a scone to go.”

Gwaine nods, turning to pour the coffee into a to go cup. He caps it, setting it on the counter. He pulls a white paper bag out from under the counter, shakes it open, and uses the tongs to put one of Percival’s freshly baked scones into it.

He plops it down next to the coffee, waving his hand when Merlin tries to take out some money. “On the house.”

“You’ve got to let me pay at some point.”

“No, I don’t,” Gwaine answers in a sing song voice, nudging Merlin’s order towards him.

Merlin breaks eye contact, smiling shyly at his feet. He takes the cup and the bag and walks out of the diner.

“We don’t get paid nearly enough for you to keep doing that,” Lancelot points out, appearing at Gwaine’s side.

“It’s fine,” Gwaine insists, heading towards the back, punching Percival in the arm when he snickers at him.

* * *

The fifth time, Merlin brings a girl with him and Gwaine spends the entire time hiding out in the supply closet, trying to ignore the jealousy settling in his stomach.

Lancelot finds him, giving him a pitying look, and Gwaine says, “Don’t start.”

“She’s not his girlfriend,” Lancelot tells him, clearly deciding to take pity on him anyway. “Her boyfriend came in a few minutes after they did. I think you’d like him. He looks like he’s pre-law.”

Gwaine scoffs, shaking his head, making a face. “Lawyers.”

Lancelot snorts softly, nodding towards the front. “He did ask about you. I told him you were out sick.”

Gwaine clutches his heart in mock surprise. “Did Mr Gallant lie? For me? Who are you and what you done to Lance?”

“Get back to work,” Lancelot says hitting Gwaine with the towel he’s holding.

“Always so demanding.”

* * *

The sixth time, Merlin’s barely in the door when Gwaine blurts, “We should get coffee sometime!"

“What?” Merlin’s face turns bright red and he trips over his own feet, stumbling a step before catching himself. “I’m sorry-” he clears his throat “-what?”

“We should get coffee,” Gwaine repeats slowly, uncertainly, gesturing between himself and Merlin. “Me and you.”

“Are you…?” Merlin trails off, furrowing his eyebrows. “You’re asking me on a date, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“A real date? For real? Like a date date?”

“Yes,” Gwaine replies nodding, never being more sure about anything in his life.

“Um, o-okay.”

“Really?”

Merlin nods and Gwaine internally does a whoop of joy. He grins broadly and asks, “Your usual?”

“Yes.”

Gwaine gets Merlin his coffee and scone, waving off the fee. He quickly scribbles his number on the side of Merlin’s cup, asking him to call so they could work out the details.

The moment Merlin leaves the diner, Gwaine pumps his arm in victory, slamming his elbow into the counter, hissing in pain. He really needs to work on this clumsiness thing.

* * *

They’re dating a little over six months when Gwaine finally agrees to officially introduce Merlin to his friends. Immediately they take a liking to him, Lancelot getting that overly protective look in his eyes when Merlin mentions how clumsy he is, and Gwaine knows he’s going to need to remind his friend that Merlin is in fact a grown man and doesn’t need protecting.

“Well, you and Gwaine are totally made for each other,” Percival says jovially. “Seeing as you’re both clumsy as shit.”

“Percy…” Gwaine hangs his head, burying his face in his hand. “A guy runs into one wall one time…”

“…you also nearly took out an elderly woman, dropped dirty dishes all over the floor, elbowed the counter…”

“…smashed your fingers in the register.” Lancelot shrugs guilty when Gwaine throws him a dirty look. “Sorry, mate, but it’s true.”

“I don’t mind,” Merlin says grinning. “We’ll be walking disasters together.”

“Say, did Gwaine ever tell you about the coffee he bought you?” Percival asks trying to sound casual and failing tremendously. And Gwaine cannot even believe the betrayal he is experiencing today. He _knew_  he shouldn’t have let his friends meet Merlin.

“No,” Merlin starts giving Gwaine a measured look, “he didn’t.” Lightly, he slaps Gwaine’s arm and says, “You told me that coffee was on the house.”

“Well, I mean, technically it was.”

“Gwaine, you’ve been buying me coffee for almost 7 months. I come in practically every day. How are you affording that?”

“I _can_  afford to buy you coffee.”

“No, he can’t,” Percival and Lance say together and Gwaine throws his hands in the air. Yep, introducing Merlin to his friends had been a very, very bad idea.


End file.
